


Catch Me if You Can

by SecretScribbles



Series: Fish Tales [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Jean being cute with his kids, Levi is a grumpy butt, Other, Petra aint got time for that, family cuteness, just bonding and problem solving, not really a romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 16:59:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12752442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretScribbles/pseuds/SecretScribbles
Summary: The frylings are having trouble seeing, but games of tag are very important.





	Catch Me if You Can

**Author's Note:**

> So, it was recently pointed out to me that 'Gen' does not mean 'gender fluid relationships/characters' and for that I apologize. I went back and fixed the stories I had posted with Gen in the tags but if I get anything else wrong, please let me know. I'd rather be mistaken than ignorant because mistakes can be corrected. 
> 
> Enjoy the cute :]

 

 

“You won’t catch me!”

 

“Oh, just watch me!” Jean chuckled darkly, then gave another powerful push to his tail. Bean was getting faster. “I’m coming after you, little guppy!”

 

“But you’re not gonna catch me!” Bean sang out with a laugh.

 

Jean joined in on the laughter, giddy in the midst of his game of tag with his son. Bean was still too young to go above water, but his speed was getting better and better every day. Tag was one of Bean’s most favorite games to play, and with how cooped up Jean had been since the eggs had been laid, it was a welcome change. 

 

The two sped around the habitat roaring with banter and laughter, twisting under roots and through archways and past rocks that lead to the surface world that Bean and his siblings would soon see. Bubbles blew past them as they cut through the water, proof of their exertion and dedication to the game, and only spurred them on to be faster. Jean absolutely loved it, and so did Bean.

 

They were lost in the joys of play, completely oblivious to their surroundings other than each other, until Jean caught sight of a glare.

 

“Bean, stop!” Jean cried then spurred on to close the gap between them, but he had let it grow too much in his effort to encourage his son, and now he wasn’t fast enough. “Bean-”

 

_ Bonk _

 

Bean tumbled back through the water clutching his nose with a wail, and in an instant, Jean was there beside him.

 

“Bean- Bean, guppy, let me see,” Jean pleaded breathlessly.

 

Bean whimpered and sniffed in his father’s embrace while Jean studied his poor, smushed nose. “Is it broken?” Bean asked pitifully. “Am I gonna lose my nose?”

 

Jean breathed out a relieved laugh. “No, guppy, you can keep your nose.” He gave Bean’s nose a small, comforting lick before wrapping his son up in a tight hug to swim closer to Bean’s assailant. “See that?”

 

Bean turned his head to find absolutely nothing and shook his head with another loud sniff. Jean nuzzled his nose to his son’s temple with a tired smile before he reached out to touch glass, prompting Bean to do the same.

 

“This is what separates us from the humans,” Jean explained. “It keeps our water in so that the humans can stay out.” He knocked on the hard glass to show its strength, allowing Bean to do the same. “You have to stay away from this when you go fast,” Jean explained. “Otherwise it’s just like swimming right into a rock.”

 

Bean pouted and clung tighter to his father. “Do these things live out in the wild?”

 

Jean shook his head. “No, guppy. This is just for the aquarium.”

 

“Good,” Bean sniffed. “I don‘t like this thing.”

 

Jean laughed at this. “Me neither.”

 

\---

 

“Here I come!” Jean growled in his most monstrous voice. “I’m coming for you!”

 

The frylings all squealed in delight as Jean hissed and growled and snapped after them. With the others added to the game, tag was a lot slower than usual, but no less fun. Compared to how slowly they had all swam a week before, though, the frylings were all growing considerably strong at a fine rate. Their parents and the team couldn’t be more proud.

 

Jean wiggled up behind Marcel with an obnoxious hiss, causing the young mer to laugh and swim away with all his might. It lead Jean right to Rosie, who cowered a bit at the sight of him but Sina was by her side in an instant, puffing up to scare the offensive predator away before grabbing her sister and swimming off with a laugh of their own. The defense lessons were really paying off.

 

Moblit poked his head around a rock to check for danger but quickly fled back behind it with a yelp once he and Jean caught eyes with each other. Jean swam right to him with a boisterous, evil laugh, finding Maria, Sonny and Bean as well, and causing all four guppies to scream before swimming off. The sound of Historia’s laugh turned Jean around to the sight of her grabbing onto Maria’s hand in the middle of her escape and quickly retreating with her sister.

 

“I’m going to get you!” Jean crowed with an overwhelming amount of pretend evil. “You can’t escape me!” He roared again for good measure before laughing maniacally. “Swim away!”

 

The frylings all squeeked in unison and simultaneously fled in opposite directions. For a moment, Jean was stuck on how he would catch them all, but quickly found his head again. Maria and Historia were attached at the hand still and were easy to cut off around a stone pass. Jean spent a few minutes nibbling and playing with the giggling girls before moving on to his next target. Marcel and Moblit had hidden inside of a cove with an open top, leaving little to no cover for them as Jean descended to their capture. He spent another few minutes nibbling on their ears as well.

 

“Four down, four to go!” Jean boasted. “Swim, swim, swim, little guppies! I’m coming for you!”

 

Sina and Rosie decided at that moment to make a break for it and swam as fast as they could to cover. Jean was too fast for them, though, and blocked their path to a small cove that he would not have been able to fit into. He spread his arms with a hefty growl, causing the two girls to scream, but Sina wasn’t about to go down without a fight. 

 

With a shove, Sina pushed Rosie behind her and tackled Jean into the wall of the cove. The male cried out in anguish at his defeat and tried to defend himself against his ‘formidable foe,’ but neither of them could seem to stop giggling. Jean laughed as they wrestled, pleased to see how strong the little one was, but his laughter died in his throat when he noticed Rosie swimming away.

 

“Rosie!” Jean easily tugged Sina off of him and raced after the fryling. “Stop, Rose- wall! Wall!”

 

Rosie couldn’t hear him, completely blinded by fear from being hunted, so she sped on. Jean chased after her, calling all the way but the closer she came to the glass, the more desperate he became to catch her, and the more scared she became of him actually doing it. Just before impact, Jean flung himself around her with whatever speed he could manage and turned his back to the glass. A resounding thunk echoed through the habitat and Jean cried out at the blast of pain to his shoulder but felt nothing but relief at the sight of Rosie safe in his arms.

 

Jean struggled a bit as Rosie fought to free herself, panting and panicking at being caught but Jean was quick to croon in her ear and hold her close. “Easy, easy, hush little one. You’re safe, guppy,” he whispered. “It’s okay; you’re okay.”

 

Rosie whimpered as she came back to reality then clung to Jean to try and stop the shivers wracking her tiny, little body. Her brothers and sisters came up soon enough to crowd around the two and ask too many questions, but with a wave of his hand, Jean shushed the children and eased the tension.

 

“Just got a little too real,” Jean explained. “Being captured is a scary thing.”

 

“But it’s just pretend,” Sonny pointed out, a little annoyed. “Why would that be scary?”

 

Rosie trembled in Jean’s arms at the question, embarrassed to be so frightened in the first place, but Jean merely patted her back and purred even more sweetly to her.

 

“This is all practice, remember?” Jean explained. “It’s supposed to be fun when it’s just you and me, but out in the wild, there are some people who want to chase you for no good. That’s why we practice like this.”

 

“Because you got captured before, right poppa Jean?” Moblit asked.

 

Jean nodded and opened his mouth to say more, but the sight of Marco racing towards the group and a slight tap on the glass behind Jean stopped him. Jean turned away from Marco and the children to find Levi with his fingernails lightly tapping the glass and a pointed look on his face.

 

“Alright, guppies, that’s enough for one day. Go have fun,” Jean sighed, then with one more nuzzle, he released Rosie to swim along and play with her siblings.

 

Marco paused long enough to check on Rosie but left her be when she shook her head, and he continued up to Jean. “Are you alright? What happened, love?”

 

“I’m fine,” Jean assured, but winced when his shoulder tried to move. Slowly, he looked up to Marco with a defeated pout. “I may need some help getting to the med bay.”

 

\---

 

“That’s the fourth time this month. We’ve got to do something to stop this.” Levi was busy grouching under his breath as he looked for more muscle cream for Jean. “It’s one thing if it’s just a fluke, but the frylings can’t seem to tell where the glass is. We’re lucky you got there in time before Rosie actually hurt herself.”

 

“I agree, but I still don’t like this thing here.” Marco kissed the bruise blooming over Jean’s shoulder and Jean crooned at the touch, leaning back into his mate for comfort. “Even if it is just a bruise, it shouldn’t have happened.”

 

“They can’t see it,” Jean explained. “They’re eyes are still growing, they can only see a few feet in front of them before things get blurry- you of all people should know that, Levi.”

 

“I do,” Levi snapped. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

 

“Okay, boys!”

 

The trio all turned to see Petra walking into the room with paperwork and a smile.

 

“Good news is the x-rays came back normal. All you’ll have to worry about is some sore muscles for a while.” She turned a sympathetic smile to Jean. “I know you love playing with the kids but you might want to consider stopping for a while until they can see better.”

 

“No, absolutely not,” Jean said. “They need to learn how to swim away; this is the perfect time to let their bodies get used to being fast. If we stop now, it’ll only be harder for them when they get bigger.”

 

“Well then, what if we restricted the area?” Marco suggested. “Keep it so that they can only play in certain areas?”

 

“Yeah, and when they get bored with that, they’ll get restless and try something else to give us all heart attacks,” Levi griped. “It’s too soon to safely transport them to the pond and it’s too dangerous to let them play in the habitat. We’re stuck.”

 

“Oh, come now, Levi,” Petra chastised as she handed Levi the cream he had been searching for. “It’s not like you to give  up so easily; I have a hard time believing that you’re out of ideas.” She stopped to squint at him. “Have you eaten? When was the last time you slept?”

 

“Back off, woman, I’m fine,” Levi growled, focusing only on spreading cream over Jean’s bruise. His hands were too rough, however, and Jean jumped away with a hiss. “Just sit still and take it like a man.”

 

“Excuse you, I am  _ not _ a man!” Jean spat.

 

Levi growled out a few curses under his breath and went to slap some more cream onto Jean’s shoulder, but Petra had already grabbed his wrist. He flashed a particularly nasty glare at her, but the firm line of her mouth kept him from saying anything.

 

“You’re tired,” she said simply. “You’re tired and you’re hungry and you’ve been working yourself too hard because you’re worried. Go take a nap. Here.” She slapped a snickers bar into his hand and shoved Levi’s shoulder enough to make him take a step back. “Start with that but go find yourself an actual meal. If I find out you haven’t eaten or are still wandering around working without crashing on the couch in your office for at least an hour, I’m driving you home myself and strapping you to the bed until you’ve gotten a full eight hours of sleep.” Her glare hardened. “And don’t think I won’t.”

 

For two tense minutes, Levi and Petra glared at one another. Neither were willing to budge on their stance, but Levi finally looked down to the candy bar in his hand. 

 

“Why do you have this one you?” he asked.

 

Petra cocked a brow but held his eyes. “That time of the month. Now eat it.”

 

If Petra was giving up her chocolate  _ and _ was hormonally charged to do what she wanted, Levi knew for a fact that he couldn’t win against her, no matter the fight. With a huff, Levi roughly shoved the canister of cream into Petra’s waiting hands and stalked off to his office, ripping open the candy bar along the way.

 

“Why don’t you two just bond already?” Jean sighed. “It’s obvious enough that even the guppies notice.”

 

Marco hummed in thought. “I think they call it marriage, actually.”

 

“Yeah. That.” Jean waved his uninjured arm at the context. “Go get marriaged.”

 

“Not that simple, boys,” Petra droned, tired of the same argument again. “Not that simple.”

 

\---

 

Levi stomped over to the medical ward in search of Petra. He had desperately needed that nap no matter how much he would deny it, and now with a chicken salad sandwich in his belly, death upon the next person to cross his path was down by ten percent. Still though. He had a bone to pick with Petra, and the longer it took to find her, the more irritated he became. Finally, he found her in the middle of a check up with Sonny and Bean in their tank.

 

“Easy now,” she cooed. “Your lungs still aren’t strong enough to breathe air; stay down!”

 

Bean blew bubbles at her in irritation and Sonny soon followed.

 

“Don’t give me that,” Petra laughed. “We can play once you learn to breathe. Now show me how strong you are.” She held up a small machine that the twins fought over for a moment or two before Sonny grabbed onto the handlebars and began to furiously swim in place. Petra held the monitor steady as Sonny pushed, watching the gage rising with every flick of the fryling’s tail. 

 

“Great job! Okay, you’re next.” Bean shoved his brother out of the way to grab hold of the handlebars as well and instantly swam into the bars, putting all of his strength behind his tail. Petra couldn’t help but smile. “You’re doing great!”

 

“Petra.”

 

She looked over her shoulder just as Bean finished with his test and gave a smug grin to her partner. With the testing now done, she bid a cheerful farewell to the twins to speak with Levi. She stopped a pace or two before him. “Feeling better?”

 

“Wipe that look off your face,” Levi droned. Then he crossed his arms and nodded his chin to her. “So. Do you still paint?”

 

\---

 

The children of the aquarium loved the new whimsical designs painted all around the viewing room. The walls were covered with paintings of mer, fish and clams, seaweed and sparkle colored stones and anything else a child could dream of being under the water. Along the edges of the glass, brightly colored swirls, spots and seaweed tangled to frame the border between human and mer, and with excited wonder, the children pointed out each and every aspect of the new art that excited them the most to their parents.

 

Behind the glass, the frylings played joyfully with each other, racing around in the water with the speed of a bullet and exciting one another with a grand chase. Jean came roaring in as usual, loud and boisterous as ever as he played with his children. The brightness of the glass could be easily seen from any spot in the game, and with the strange colors broadcasting the boundaries of the water, Jean felt at ease knowing his children would not be hurt.

 

The patrons of the park watched in awe as the family played under the water, exclaiming over the speed of the mer or how pretty their scales were, but Levi couldn’t have cared less. He sat back to watch the game of chase as well, silently pleased with the solution to their problem. Beside him another person plopped down into a seat with a heavy sigh.

 

“You did good,” Levi muttered. “The fries haven’t hit glass in over a week.”

 

“The kids love it too,” Petra agreed. “It’s gotten to the point where people have asked for coloring books.” She turned to Levi. “Think we can skip telling that to the board?”

 

“What; don’t want your fifteen minutes of fame?” Levi joked.

 

Petra shrugged. “Not really. It’s just not my thing.” She looked back to the view. “Unless all of the money goes directly to the aquarium, I don’t really see the point in doodling out a bunch of scribbles. Besides, if I’m going to sell anything, I want to make sure it’s the best.”

 

“It is the best,” Levi argued. “You’re just too picky to see it.”

 

“Yeah, right.” Petra rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, boss. Even if you  _ are  _ a  _ loon. _ ”

 

Levi hummed an affirmative, but otherwise remained quiet. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just watching the people enjoying their day at the park. Mothers eagerly pointed out all of the beauty or colors that could be seen while fathers laughed at the fun Jean and the frylings were having, encouraging their own children to play tag once they had returned home. Meanwhile, Jean and his guppies were content to ignore them all in the midst of their playing.

 

“You really did do a good job,” Levi finally said, but Petra declined.

 

“It was your idea,” she replied.

 

“Yeah, well,” he groaned as he sat up, thinking back to the days when he would admire her paintings from afar, how he had dreamed of it during his forced nap, and how he was now unable to face her with his words as he walked away. “It’s your fault that I thought of it anyways.”

 

A chuckle rang out, sweet and melodious, and then Petra opened her mouth. “Oh yeah?” she taunted. “So what are you going to do about it, old man?”

 

Levi stopped in his tracks and turned a scowl to her. “‘Old man’?”

 

Petras stood up with a bright smile and took wide, slow steps until she could hop playfully beside Levi and lightly punch his shoulder. She leaned down to his ear, still smiling, but before she could say anything, Petra straightened up and ran away. “Tag, you’re it!”

 

Completely baffled, Levi stood frozen in place as his friend scurried away giggling. A flash of her smile over her shoulder got his legs moving though, and he started after her in a determined walk and a frown.

 

“You’re never going to win at that pace,” Petra pointed out, then smiled even brighter when Levi started to trot at her teasing . “Catch me if you can.”  


**Author's Note:**

> I have so many more fluff buckets to post but I also had to post another chapter for Name of a Witch and I wanted to get back into the swing of posting two chapters at once so, here you go! Hope you liked it :]
> 
> Tell me what you think! I love talking with you guys


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